Schilling hoping to start throwing

BOSTON - The Boston Red Sox and Curt Schilling may soon find out whether they made the right decision in rehabilitating the right-hander's ailing shoulder.

The 41-year-old Schilling, who's been out since the start of spring training, hopes to begin throwing for the first time soon.

"The workload on my heavy days is excessive," Schilling said Friday. "There's no pain, no stamina issues, no strength loss, no lingering effects, which is a huge plus. I haven't thrown yet. That's the big piece of this."

"He will be measured again this weekend," Francona said. "Then he might be able to begin throwing a ball, which is good."

Posada sidelined for at least five weeks

NEW YORK - Jorge Posada stood in front of his locker, his right shoulder wrapped in bandages following treatment.

The good news was the New York Yankees catcher didn't need an operation now.

The bad news was that he will be sidelined for at least five weeks.

"I thought I was going to have to get surgery. We're going to look at that option probably after the season," Posada said.

He thinks he hurt the shoulder as a result of compensating during spring training for a sore muscle in his right side, an injury that caused him to be scratched from the starting lineup on March 7. Posada said he has inflammation of the rotator cuff but the condition of his labrum was unchanged from a scan taken during the offseason for an insurance policy.

Turnbow was 0-1 with a 15.63 ERA in eight games this season and gave up six runs in two-thirds of an inning at Chicago on Wednesday.

"His production had fallen to the point where it was hard to find spots to use him," Brewers manager Ned Yost said.

Yost said he'd rarely seen a career marked with such highs and lows.

"It's pretty unique," he said.

Turnbow had 39 saves in 2005 and 24 the following year, when he was picked for the NL All-Star team. But he suddenly lost his form midseason in 2006.

After converting 51 of 55 save chances at the start of his career, he went 0-6 with a 13.06 ERA from July 1 on in 2006 and lost his closer's job to Francisco Cordero. Turnbow was 4-5 with a 4.63 ERA as a setup man last year.

Milwaukee designated the 30-year-old right-hander for assignment and is responsible for the remainder of his $3.2 million salary this year. The Brewers have 10 days to trade him, place him on unconditional release waivers or send him outright to the minors.

Yost believes going to another team or to the minors will be helpful to Turnbow.

"A change of scenery will do him good," Yost said. "He needs to be somewhere where he can relax a little bit and take a deep breath and regain his confidence."

The decision wasn't easy, Yost said, but it was for the best.

"It's always difficult, especially with a guy that's been an All-Star for you," he said. "It's painful to watch him struggle. A lot of times you do it for his own benefit as well as yours and the organization's."